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Other first ordinances of the village covered matters such as the licensing of merchants and peddlers, and the building of village improvements like sidewalks and telephone poles.
Ordinance No XII regulated licenses for persons selling property or exhibiting shows. No merchant, auctioneer, or peddler could sell any property, goods, wares or merchandise or any person or company exhibit “any show, exhibition, theatrical performance, wax figures, animals, puppets, or perform any feat or trick, such a circus riding …or anything of a like nature”, within the corporate limits without first having obtained a license to do so. (The licensing fees did not apply to residents and taxpayers of the village.) The fees were:
Foot Peddlers - $2/week
Peddlers with one-horse vehicle - $2/week
Peddlers with two-horse vehicle - $3/week
Theatrical and other performances in a hall - $2/week
Large tent exhibitions - $25
Side Show tents - $5
A Sidewalk Ordinance was passed in 1904 which provided that half the cost of new sidewalks would be paid by the village and half by the abutting property owner. All new sidewalks were required to be made of concrete to replace the wooden ones. The five-page ordinance outlined the specific construction, (to “be composed of one part of the best English, German or Atlas Portland Cement), the grading and materials specifications, and the laying down and supervision of the walk. When the parcel owners were notified in writing of the resolution, they were given 40 days in which to construct the sidewalk. Once the new cement sidewalks were in place, the old wooden sidewalks could be sold for the value of the wood.
In 1905, the Farmers New Era Telephone company was given the right to place telephone poles in the village where “they will cause as little trouble or inconvenience to the traveling public and property owners as possible”. All the poles were to be painted black six feet up from the ground and the rest of the pole white.
Story by Laura Frumet
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